Resident Evil: Remorse
by BurningRave18
Summary: Taking place after the outbreak in Raccoon City, as depicted in Resident Evil: Insanity, we take a look six years into the future; six years into a new horror.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**: Here is a sequel to my story called Resident Evil Insanity. It shouldn't be too hard to find if you haven't read it. You can check my Deviant Art page if FF gives you some trouble. There's a link to my DA account in my user profile.

I'll attempt to update this story at least once a week, every Friday/Saturday provided real life doesn't get too busy. It's also worth mentioning that in my RE Insanity story, I had done a signifcant amount of work on it prior to putting it online. This story, for all intents and purposes, is entirely new. There used to be a general idea for this story that tied into Resident Evil 4, but I've opted to scrap nearly everything from that concept in favor of leaving the main cannon storyline mostly untouched. As such, I cannot gurantee that this will turn out anything as good as my last story, but I'm willing to give it a shot and see where it goes. I hope you enjoy it ^_^

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

_RELIVE THE HORROR_

"Are the sounds of footsteps those of survivors?"

"Excuse me?"

_You'd think I would have gotten used to the dark by now._ "I'm still having dreams—nightmares."

"How often?"

"Once a week, maybe more. Sometimes I don't remember, but I wake up feeling cold and alone."

"I see. And the medication hasn't helped at all?"

"No," _because I stopped taking it._

"You know, we can tell when you're lying."

_No, you can't._ "I know. If I could stop having these dreams, I would."

"And you still don't remember much, do you?"

_Questions…_ "Bits and pieces, here and there. If what I dream about shows me anything new, I rarely remember it." _Nothing but questions._

"Your last dream, then. Can you tell me what you can recall?"

_Blood. I always remember the blood._ "I remember running,"

"Like most of your other dreams?"

"Yea, running down a street… or maybe it's an alley. It's always dark, but I can only run straight ahead. Still, I end up feeling lost."

"And are you being chased?"

"I believe I am. I know there's something behind me, that if I stop I'll die—or worse."

"Or worse?"

_Trapped for eternity telling the same person stories that I've had to have told her dozens of times before?_

"Did you say something?"

"No… No. Nothing. Never mind. I guess I can't remember much besides the fear of stopping, slowing down or looking over my shoulder."

"Go on."

"I don't know if I escape or if I'm eventually caught but I do know the hopelessness that always follows."

"Hopelessness?"

_It's like talking to an idiot._ "Alone. Forsaken. Discarded. If I'm still even alive at this point, I don't have the will to continue living anymore."

"Do you see anything when you feel this hopelessness?"

"Maybe. I can't really remember."

"I would like to try something, if you're willing to participate."

_You mean, you'd like me to try something._ "Sure, fine." _As if I have a choice._

"I'd like to watch you as you sleep."

_Creeper._

"Do you think you can do that?"

"Why not?"

"Okay. Try to relax and listen to my voice."

_Right. I would have brought a blanket if I knew it'd be naptime. I really hope I get a cookie and a carton of chocolate milk after this._

"Remember where you used to live, before you came here?"

_I remember a life, if that's what you mean._

"Raccoon City. Can you remember your life there: your childhood, your family?"

_Yea… I can still see their faces if I think hard enough, but I'd rather not._

"About six years ago, something happened in…"

_Something… Right._

"…but you survived…a week…alive…"

_So much blood. Everything... The streets, the police station, the school… Oh god, the school…_

"…rising pulse… right… I'll go… administer…"

_…they were just children…_

* * *

Someone spoke, their words falling against a veil of numbed slumber. For one sweet moment, existence had been forgotten.

"Jake, wake up. We're finished for the day. It's time for you to go."


	2. Chapter 2

Jake waited inside a small, plain room that could have only been described as an exhibit for a human zoo. He couldn't help but stare down at the desk before him, neatly adorned with various files and paperwork as if no one of any sort of actual humanistic qualities worked there. The large, glass window that covered most of the entirety of the wall to his right revealed a couple of individuals dressed in lab coats speaking to each other in the hall outside the room. However, Jake had long grown tired of both their faces and decided the desk a thousand times more interesting.

After what would have probably felt like forever if waiting in small rooms, basking in sheer boredom hadn't become so common day, the door to the room opened and the 'creeper' from his previous nap walked in. Without saying a word, much less acknowledging his existence, she took a seat at the other side of the desk, flipped open a manila folder and bit the corner of her lower lip for all of a brief moment.

"I want to see you again at the end of the week: Friday at four." The woman looked up at him through the space between her glasses and brow while waiting for some sort of response, as if he could actually reply with anything other than, "Yes, ma'am! Certainly! Friday at four. I'll be sure to kill my sense of independence, happiness and humanity a few days in advance this time, like a good little lab rat."

"Right," Jake resisted the urge to say something else beyond that. As her gaze returned to the folder before her, he stood up from his seat. Of course, science apparently squeezed out any sense of empathy and etiquette in people, so he had stopped expecting a goodbye.

On his way to the door, the woman called out, "Don't forget to take your medication. It'll help with your sleep."

The all too loud click of the door shutting behind him gave all the response Jake wanted to offer. He did have to give her credit, since the pills she prescribed did help with getting rid of his nightmares. The intense nausea and paranoia made it utterly impossible even to fall asleep.

Stepping outside of the building that had managed to entrap countless hours of his life since being shipped overseas to the research compound for 'extensive private therapy and treatment', Jake had to shut his eyes a few moments to ward off the lasting embrace of fluorescent lights. With the usual large flight of steps leading down to the street standing before him, he still couldn't help but feel offset by the lack of people outside. Despite the compound itself looking, and acting, like a small city, it usually suffered from an extreme lack of people walking around outside. Still, at the very least, living in what amounted to a dysfunctional ghost town did offer quite a bit more peace than the usual city environment.

Making his way to the street, Jake soon found the bench he'd use to wait for one of the compound's busses to come around and pick him up. As he sat, he had the pleasure of watching all of a handful of cars pass by on their way to important, 'sciencey' things. While he knew there nothing wrong with research and scientific advancement, even more so on a compound devoted to such things, he always found himself wondering if the people who worked in the area hadn't entirely lost their sense of life.

Of course, such thoughts continued to turn back to himself, leaving him to wonder if even he had any sense of life or humanity anymore. Most of the time, he came to assume that he did indeed cling to 'something', feeling ever out of place with mostly everyone in the compound, but still he partially wished that he could just lose himself to his surroundings so that he wouldn't have to care anymore.

He chuckled to himself as he saw the bus approaching from down the street. Standing up, he shrugged his shoulders and approached the curb, muttering to himself, "I can't even remember what normal feels like anymore."

* * *

"Do you hear that?"

The only light came filtered through the crack between the drapes, mixing the darkness of the room with a dim, early morning light. Instead of a sheet of black, objects had become visible, if only as shapeless blobs hidden in the distance. However, nothing replied to the question posed except the ever-diligent crickets outside the window.

"It's the sound of the reaper… come for you." She let out a hollow laugh before diverting her gaze from the distant ceiling above to her sleeping bed partner. Silence once again followed until she asked, "Are you awake?"

The man lying next to her remained motionless, shrouded in what shadow still lurked in the room.

"The alarm's going to go off soon."

No response.

"William?"

Reaching out, she placed a hand on his shoulder and immediately froze after feeling the thick, wet warmth cling to her palm. Once her mind managed to unscramble from the immediate discord that tore through it, she sprung from her bed to the opposite end of the bedroom and flicked on the overhead light. Before her very eyes, the remaining darkness faded from existence, revealing the body of William in her bed, the blanket covering his body torn to shreds and soaked in blood. The lower part of his torso had been gashed open; his insides pulled apart and left hanging from his corpse.

Words failed to form at her lips, despite several attempts to speak and scream. Her eyes remained fixated on his body, soaking in the sight of the brutal murder until William jolted upright. Immediately, she fell backwards against the wall, watching as his eyelids peeled back to reveal pale, dead eyes. His jaw hung open, bile spilling from the corner onto his lap. One solitary, empty moan escaped his throat before everything turned black.

The alarm clock at the side of the bed began its infernal choir, shattering any sense of peace the night claimed to contain into hundreds of pieces. Without any hesitation, a tense and desperate arm shot across the bed in order to assure that such nightmares had no lodgings in reality. When her hand found nothing but faint warmth left by a body long awakened, she let out a much needed exhale and finally quieted the device that had tore her from the clutches of her unconscious mind.

Seconds passed as she continued to lie in bed, reliving her recent nightmare. When the door to her bedroom finally opened, she let out a startled gasp and sat up, clutching her blanket around most of her body. When the light turned on, she found a living, healthy William standing in her doorway, hair gelled back, clad in his usual business attire.

A slight smile parted his lips before he asked, "Are you alright?"

Still looking him over, somehow believing she'd see his innards spill from his abdomen at any moment, she nodded. "Yea… I'm fine." It'd be a cold day in Hell before she ever admitted to being afraid of nightmares.

"Good. I'd hate to have to tell everyone down at the lab that our Nicole isn't feeling well."

"Please," she plopped back down in bed and pulled the blanket over her head in order to block out the light and cold. "Like they care." It wasn't as if she liked them all that much, anyways.

"Of course they do." William turned the light off. "Remember that we're meeting for lunch today at one. It'd be nice if you could try to be on time today, too. I don't have a lot of spare time since we've started working on our new project."

Nicole shut her eyes and replied, "Yea, sure," before pulling her pillow over her head.

She couldn't tell if William said something after that. For several minutes, she laid there with the cool touch of the pillow on the side of her face. Silence once again swept into the room as the quiet hours of the morning returned. As much as she would have liked to fall back asleep, Nicole knew that she wouldn't be able to.


End file.
